Santa's Workshop...Sorta...

Santa's Workshop is going nineteen to the dozen here after my brief stint in bed. I'm having a great time creating dolls!

Anyone not 'in the know' would think I was the next Sweeney Todd with the amount of body parts littering the work table!!!

There's a Princess doll, for a special small person:

I've been working with the new Jan Horrox book, to make her, and would REALLY recommend the book if you are into doll making! Further progress:

After Christmas I'll show you the properly finished doll, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipient!

Then, for another very, very small person I returned to the usual style of Prim pattern, with an embroidered face, to make a Prairie style doll:

...forgot to swivel her around!

One is to be posted tomorrow, and the other taken to Dublin on Saturday, possibly to a Rugby International, but hopefully will be delivered first!!

Any more orders better come in fast as I've another two to do yet and posting dates are a-creeping!

And then Santa's next trick is a Craft Workshop for the Mothers' Union. Back in August, the 24th November was so far ahead I thought nothing of agreeing to do it...ha! No, actually: HA!

The last two days have been spent packaging 25 personal Craft Packs

(templates, fabric, ribbons, etc)

and four similar Supply Baskets with identical contents

(beads, sequins, buttons, lavender potpourri, toy filling, misc fabric pieces, Biros, etc).

I didn't realise how much work would be involved, but I also figure that if its worth doing at all, its worth doing well.

These are the demonstration lavender bags...as in; 'here's one I made earlier!' And long live Blue Peter!! (Is that a cultural joke?)
I hope I survive the evening, and I hope the ladies do too, of course; I've actually never done anything like this before.

This evening I have been working out the step by step progression for the evening...but if even one bottle of beads gets knocked over it will turn into a shambles....

And then, this afternoon I glanced out the window and there was a rainbow!

God's promises?

Perhaps I'll survive after all!!

FYI !

My girls use 'FYI' whenever they think I haven't moved with the times sufficiently, but I'm using it as 'For Your Interest'!

I wanted to share with you some of my recent favourite places, (all the links go to the blogspot, not any specific page) (at least, I HOPE they do...!):

The Background Fairy and Shabby Blogs are both good for free blog stuff, and also tutorials and information on how to use it, as well as becoming more proficient. Also I really like their artwork!

Babes from the Woods is an amazing doll maker, carving her own dolls in the style of the Early English Queen Anne. I tell you, I'm starting to save for one now! What's more, she is very generous about answering emails and questions which I find fascinating.

Raven Moon Magic is an Artist, and her work is gobsmackingly wonderful! Check out her little girl, 'Moon', paintings, and also her lit up birdcages- bet you've never seen anything like it!

Field Trips in Fiber produces a collection of hand-dyed fabric to dye for-ha! ha! This is her blog site, but her Etsy Shop is a credit card disaster zone: I haven't yet found anything of hers that I DON'T want to buy!! Just warning you, that's all!

365 Days of Free Motion Quilting is a really inspiring site if your machine quilting needs a bit of a 'giddy-up', or, as in my case, you want to learn. Leah posts little videos as tutorials too so although the 'doing' might take practise, the seeing how its done is dead easy. I've been frequenting her place a lot recently!

And last but not least, Crafting a Green World is a useful site for information on how to prevent one's crafting from 'costing the earth'. They find products and post information which is relevant to crafters, rather than being the source of items themselves. It makes one think, and perhaps more able to make informed decisions.

I could go on and on and on, but I won't!!!